Foolproof
by Dazzleberry
Summary: The grin returned full force, and Sirius forked a hand through his hair. "I just had the most brilliant idea," he said.


**Foolproof**

October 20, 1981

"Prongs! Hey, Prongs!"

Sirius Black sauntered into the kitchen, a grin plastered across his face, gray eyes gleaming like pewter in the sunlight. James returned the grin, though his had considerably less enthusiasm—he was far too worried to be grinning heartily about anything.

At twenty-two, he was no longer the Quidditch champion and mastermind behind a thousand pranks to terrorize Hogwarts; he was a devoted husband and-- as of one year, two months and nineteen days ago-- a proud father. And a terrified man. He never would have dreamed the depth of fear he was capable of experiencing until he looked into his son's eyes, which were becoming more like Lily's every day.

"Hey, Padfoot," James replied, shifting the deadweight that was Harry to his other arm as he stood. Harry yawned and snuggled closer to his chest, and an overwhelming sense of protectiveness clenched at James' heart. He knew that he was a target of Voldemort, or more accurately, that Harry was a target. He knew also that he would do anything to keep his son safe.

"Doing?" Sirius asked, reaching for Harry's hand, but James turned away.

"Don't," he said. "He's sleeping."

"Aww, but it's the middle of the afternoon! He needs to wake up and play."

James shook his head, a rueful smile playing at his lips. "He's barely a year old," he reminded his cohort.

"I know," Sirius replied, his smile fading slightly. James knew that Sirius was fond of Harry, or perhaps fascinated was more accurate, but he wasn't always sure that Sirius was fully aware of what it meant that Harry was a baby. Sirius turned a chair around and sat in it backward, folding his arms over the back and resting his chin on his wrists.

Even being relatively serious, Padfoot had that rebellious look in his eyes and a self-satisfied smirk on his face, and James wondered if he was ever going to settle down. Remus was already showing signs of settling, and Peter had never been as wild as the other three of them to begin with. Only Sirius threatened to be the wizard who wouldn't grow up. Somehow, James could see Sirius Black being old and gray, with a beard like Dumbledore's streaming behind him as he rode that flying motorcycle of his.

"You look smug," James commented. "What gives?"

The grin returned full force, and Sirius forked a hand through his hair. "I just had the most brilliant idea," he said.

James groaned and shook his head. "I bet," he muttered. Sirius' most 'brilliant' ideas had always been the ones that got them all into the worst trouble when they were kids and none of them ever let him forget it.

"No," Sirius said, "really. It's brilliant. It's so simple, it's just…" he paused, holding his fingers up as though he might pluck the word he wanted from thin air.

"Brilliant?" James suggested.

Sirius grinned more broadly than ever, and nodded, his hair falling into his face again. "Brilliant."

James shook his head and sat again. "What now?" he asked. "Going to find a way to prove that Snape's a Death Eater?"

"Nah, I already know that," Sirius answered dismissively. "He'll hang himself if we just leave him alone. Stupid git." He scowled for a moment, then shook his head, smiling broadly again. "Nope, this is better."

"What?"

"We," he began, then paused for dramatic effect, "are going to catch Voldemort."

"What?" James stared at him in disbelief. "Are you mad? Who's 'we'?"

"Me and you," Sirius answered, then shrugged a bit. "Well, mostly me."

"Sirius…" James wasn't smiling. He was far from amused.

"No, man. Hear me out. See, Voldemort wants Harry, right?"

"You are not using Harry as bait," James said plaintively, and a pout crossed Sirius' face.

"I wasn't planning to!" he snapped indignantly. "At least, no more than he already is. Don't look at me like that, Prongs! I'm not the one who's after him. As long as Voldemort's alive, Harry's a target, but I don't intend to make him any more of a target than he already is."

"What are you planning?" James asked bluntly.

"Well, it's just this. Voldemort wants Harry, right? And you're going into hiding next week, right? So we let the rumor spread that you've gone into hiding and that you're protected with the Fidelius Charm." Sirius broke off suddenly, looking around and grinning. "Oh man, this is brilliant."

James looked at him doubtfully. "You want to spread a rumor that's _true_? Sirius, the whole point is to protect Harry, and you're wanting to practically draw a map to where he is! You are mad, you know that?"

"No, you've got it all wrong!" Sirius insisted. "Because see, everyone knows who you are, and everyone knows that I'm Harry's godfather, and everyone will assume that you've made _me_ your Secret Keeper! So they'll try to catch me. It's brilliant, I'm telling you."

"Have you been drinking? Have you been smoking something? Sirius, you _are_ going to be our Secret Keeper."

"But that's just it," Sirius said, leaning forward, his eyes shining more brightly than ever. "_I won't be_."

"Then who will?" James asked, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach starting to make him feel vaguely ill.

"Peter."

"Peter?"

"Peter." Sirius stood suddenly, running both hands through his hair. "It's perfect! So you see, Voldemort will come after _me_ instead, because he'll think _I_ hold the key to you and Lily, and by extension, Harry. So, I'll let _my_ whereabouts leak our—after you all are safe, of course—and then he'll try to kill me and boom!" Sirius punched his palm. "I'm telling you, James, it's foolproof!"

James' head was reeling. "I don't know…" The older he got, the less he liked plans that were 'foolproof'.

"What's not to know? You and Harry and Lily will still be safe, and we'll catch Voldemort! We'll be heroes, James!"

"It sounds dangerous," James said bluntly.

Sirius snorted derisively. "So what?" he asked. "We've faced danger before, and we always come out on top. You know why?"

"Because we were damn lucky," James answered.

"Because we're a _team_," Sirius said as though James hadn't responded.

James closed his eyes. "I don't know," he repeated, but increasingly, he _did_ know. He knew that he was never going to agree to this.

"Come on!" Sirius said, sitting again. "Think it through, Prongs! What can possibly go wrong?"

"You could be killed," James answered.

Sirius waved him off. "I'm not going to get killed," he said confidently.

"Sirius," James warned, "you could get killed. I don't want to lose my best friend to this."

"Do you think I can't hold my own in a fight?" Sirius' tone was half offended, half challenging, and James sighed.

"One on one, sure, but Voldemort doesn't like fair odds," he pointed out. "Remember the Prewetts? Remember Edgar Bones? Marlene McKinnon?" He shook his head firmly. "He won't come alone. He'd come with a dozen Death Eaters and you'd never stand a chance."

Sirius made a face. "Fine," he conceded after a minute. "But who says I'd be alone? I mean, the others will know where I am. They can be ready to dive in and help out."

James could tell that Sirius didn't like the idea of sharing the glory, but he couldn't argue the logic. And James couldn't think of any other arguments.

"Well? What else?" Sirius prodded. "Come on, let's work it all out. We have to make sure we aren't leaving any loopholes."

James looked down at Harry, still asleep in his arms. "I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "Maybe it's better to just lay low for a while."

"For the rest of your life?" Sirius asked. He shook his head. "James, nothing is going to change when you go into hiding, except that you'll be hidden."

"We'll be safe," James pointed out.

"As long as you're hidden," Sirius countered. "So you want Harry to grow up like that? Look, we're not making any headway towards putting a stop to this shit. At the rate we're going, you'll be hiding forever, and Voldemort will still be getting more and more powerful. As long as he's alive, Harry's in danger."

"Sirius…"

"No! I'm not trying to use Harry to convince you. I'm just telling it like it is. As long as Voldemort is in power, you all are in danger. Direct danger. We haven't been able to catch him yet, but this could really be the plan to make the tables turn, you know?"

James was still frowning, but he knew that everything Sirius was saying was true.

"Look, it's the same situation, regardless of how we look at it," Sirius pointed out. "Except this time, we turn the odds in _our_ favor. This time _we_ hold the element of surprise. Voldemort will think he's getting the drop on us, but we'll have him right where we want him."

"And how do you know it will be Voldemort?" James asked, "How do you know he won't just send the Death Eaters?"

"So what if he does?" Sirius replied. "Then we have Death Eaters—_live_ Death Eaters—in captivity, and they can lead us to others. Even if we don't get Voldemort, we'll hold the key to his downfall."

"I don't know…"

"Look, we gotta take a chance. If we don't, you and Lily and Harry will be hiding in Godric's Hollow forever."

"But if we fail…"

"We _won't_ fail," Sirius replied confidently. "It's the same plan as before, only someone else will be Secret Keeper."

James took a deep breath and looked away, unable to meet Sirius' eyes. He felt like the lousiest friend who'd ever walked the earth as he said it, but he couldn't keep quiet. "And can we really trust Wormtail?" he asked quietly. "I know I could trust you, but can we _really_ trust him not to squeal?"

Sirius sighed heavily, and James sneaked a glance at him. He looked like he was considering it. "Yeah," he said finally. "We can. He worships you, James. Hell, he nearly wet all over himself every time you were in a Quidditch match."

"That's what I'm afraid of," James said dryly. "If he sees Voldemort, will he wet all over himself and spill his guts?"

"No," Sirius replied, grinning. "He'll shit his pants and pass out, and it won't be a concern."

James snorted.

"We'll make sure he's safe," Sirius said, turning earnest again. "I don't think it'll take long for Voldemort to hear what we want him to hear and come after me. We only have to keep Peter safe for a few weeks at most."

James took a deep breath, and Harry whimpered lightly in his sleep. James smoothed his hair and held him closer.

"Come on, what else? See, these are good points you're bringing up," Sirius said. "We gotta think of everything."

James sighed. "Let's talk to Dumbledore."

"Why?" Sirius asked immediately.

James frowned. "Why not?"

"He'll only try to talk us out of it," Sirius said.

"Then maybe he'll have his reasons."

"Yeah, he thinks we're still kids. Just like him wanting to be the Secret Keeper instead of letting me do it. He won't admit that we're adults, and he isn't going to put anyone in danger. I like the old man and all, but he's getting soft. He won't let us take any chances, so of course we're not getting anywhere."

"How are the others going to protect you if they don't know what you're doing?"

"You'll tell them you want a guard on me at all times," Sirius replied. "They'll buy that. It's only natural. Then you tell them you want a guard on Remus and Peter, too, just in case Voldemort thinks you chose one of them, and then you got Peter covered."

James sighed again. He had a bad feeling about this.

"I don't know…"

"Come on, James. It's foolproof. What can possibly go wrong?"

"I don't like you being a target."

"I'm going to be a target anyway," Sirius pointed out. "Whether I'm your Secret Keeper or not, everyone will think I am. It actually works out better this way, because worst case scenario, I won't have anything to reveal. And since everyone else will think it's me, none of the others can be tortured into revealing who your Secret Keeper is."

"I don't know. It's too simple. We have to be missing something."

"The best plans are always the simple ones," Sirius said.

James stood, holding Harry tighter. "But why Peter? Why not Remus?"

"Because he's a werewolf," Sirius replied. "And next week is the full moon. You want to go into hiding next week, don't you?"

"I could wait a week…"

"No. I'd make you go now if the house was ready."

James looked out the window, frowning.

"Peter'll be fine," Sirius insisted. "Everything will be fine. And by Christmas, we'll be celebrating Voldemort's demise."

James continued to turn it over in his head, stroking Harry's back and staring out the window, unseeing.

"James?"

"All right," James said finally. "I'll talk to Lily tonight."

"Don't just talk to her. _Convince_ her."

James exhaled sharply. "Right," he muttered. "That's so easy to do."

"Just tell her what I've been telling you," Sirius said, and James turned to look at him again. He was grinning confidently. "It's foolproof."

* * *

A/N: This was Jen's attempt at a drabble that ended up a little longer than I'd anticipated. We were having a discussion on lj in larilee's journal about Sirius, and this just kind of popped into my head. Hope you enjoyed! 


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